Gunther Schuller: A Life in Pursuit of Music and Beauty (review)

Gunther Schuller's professional life has featured intimate involvement in a number of musical fields. As a performer (on horn) he has played with major orchestras and with important jazz artists. As a composer he is well known for writing works that combine aspects of classical music and jazz, although such works are only a part of his output. As an educator he has served as president of the New England Conservatory. He has also been active as a conductor, arranger, writer, editor, record producer, and advocate.

This first volume of Schuller's memoirs covers the period from his birth in 1925 until approximately 1960. It begins with an introductory essay by Joan Shelley Rubin, "The Musician as Mediator," and a brief preface by the author. In the first two chapters, entitled "Childhood" and "Boyhood," Schuller discusses his early years before the beginning of his professional performing career as a teenager. The main focus of chapter 3, "Youth," is his time performing with the Cincinnati Symphony from 1943-45. An "Interlude" is followed by Chapter 4, "Encountering Jazz," which covers his early interest in jazz in terms of recordings and attendance at live performances. Chapter 5, "First Years at the Metropolitan Opera," highlights the initial portion of his fifteen-year tenure (1945-59) with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Chapters 6 and 7 are concerned with "Plumbing the Depths of New York's Cultural Scene" and "Collecting Friends and Mentors" respectively. Chapter 8, "Great Years at the Met," describes Schuller's career as a classical musician, in both live and recorded performance, in the 1950s. Chapter 9, "The Third Stream," focuses on Schuller's professional interaction with several important jazz musicians. Chapter 10, "Re-encountering Europe," features discussion of selected Schuller compositions and accounts of his trips to Europe in the 1950s, including his presence at the Darmstadt and Donaueschingen festivals and his impressions of the music scene in Europe. The book concludes with fifty-seven pages of endnotes and an index. The endnotes are nearly always extensions of the narrative proper and only rarely involve secondary citations. Schuller's main source for this book is his memory, with some references to his diary. He does assume musical literacy on the part of his readers, but this will not overwhelm general readers. Since the volume ends around 1960, there is very little material on Schuller as a conductor, writer, or educator.

There are numerous strengths to Schuller's autobiography. His description of his career as a professional classical performer in the upper echelons of New York's music scene gives the reader an interesting look at the life of a professional musician during the mid-century decades, providing valuable primary source material for scholars of twentieth-century American music. Also of importance to historians of classical music are Schuller's first-hand experiences of the concert culture in New York during the period in question. The descriptions of these experiences dispel myths in the standard historical narrative, add color to the biographies of other musical figures (including major conductors, composers, and performers), and enrich the reader's general knowledge of music history. Of significance to jazz scholars and jazz fans are Schuller's accounts of his interaction and professional collaboration with Miles Davis, John Lewis, Gil Evans, and other major jazz figures. These accounts are a contribution to the musical and social history of jazz. There is less material on Schuller as a composer than many readers would expect, but he nonetheless provides valuable insights into his work. Finally, Schuller is clearly an enthusiastic music fan in addition to being a professional musician, and this perspective will appeal to many different types of readers. Volume 1 of Schuller's autobiography is thus a fascinating look at the mid-twentieth-century American music scene from several different perspectives.

I found the book's main weaknesses to be its excessive length and the frequent inclusion of details...